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Clue
Callen and everyone watched the exchange between the tied up Annie and her captor, Stryker, with a flurry of different emotions and mostly clenched fists. Callen personally was relieved that she was still alive and had the ability to fight back against Stryker and whatever twisted logic he thought would have worked on her. Callen wasn't the only person in the room who had to resist punching something when Stryker forced himself on Annie and kissed her.
He couldn't hide the triumphant smirk when she bit him and that smirk quickly transformed to a frown when Stryker retaliated with not only a slap but also two punches to her abdomen. By the time Stryker turned off the video feed for the night, Callen and everyone else was itching to get Annie back. They all knew that whatever this 'test' Stryker was referring to was not going to be good for Annie at all.
But, Callen was frustrated above all else. He had no clue as to how to track Annie down or figure out where she could possibly be held. Annie did not take a cell phone with her and even if she did Stryker had thoroughly checked her when he had given her, her 'wardrobe change'. So that was useless and Eric, Nell, and Johnston lost the three black vans in rush hour traffic. Although they were able to identify their mercenary, his name was Carlos Hernandez.
He was the oldest of three brothers; Callen killed the middle brother, Guillermo, during their car chase. The youngest, Jose, was in the wind with Stryker and Annie. Apparently the two oldest brothers were part of the Mexican Army but washed out when a local cartel took out their home town, killing all of their friends and family. The youngest was off on vacation when it happened hence why he survived, so the three swore revenge. The Mexican Army did not condone this so the two eldest went rogue with the younger brother right behind them turning into mercenaries. From their rap sheet, it seemed they haven't been mercenaries for long hence why they were so eager to prove themselves and gain high-valued connections with men like Stryker before they attempted to take down the cartel and get their revenge. Either way, there was nothing more they could get from Carlos.
Hetty told Eric, Nell, and Johnston to scrub the video even though everyone knew that they weren't going to get anything from it just like they didn't get anything from the video when Stryker had Jason and Aisha. But Callen, Sam, Kensi, and Eric could understand where Hetty was coming from. This reminded all of them of the Dom incident and Callen would be damned to let the same outcome happen to Annie. All of them were feeling exactly like that, so they all re-watched the video feed over and over again trying to spot something with Annie's family, Johnston, Deeks, and Nell following their lead.
"Wait, can you focus in on one specific person?" Mrs. Smith spoke up after the fourth time they re-watched the video.
"Yeah, who do you want us to focus in on Mrs. Smith" Johnston asked.
"The blonde man near the door, please Travis." She stated and when Johnston zoomed in, Mrs. Smith ordered him to replay the entire video from start to finish in that setting. Callen racked his brain as to what the woman saw. She re-watched the video a second time and that time Callen watched Mrs. Smith. The older woman who reminded Callen so much of Annie in beauty had this look of calculating concentration that Callen only saw on Annie's face when she was working on expense reports.
"What do you see honey?" Director Smith asked his wife and everyone turned their full attention to Mrs. Smith.
"That man knows Annie. He has met her before Stryker has taken her, but only as acquaintances if that." Mrs. Smith stated and all the NCIS agents looked at her in shock while Carson, Director Smith, Johnston, and Jason just accepted what the matriarch said.
"How can you tell that?" Kensi asked incredulously.
"His body language and how he reacts to whatever Annie says." Mrs. Smith explained. Callen and his team re-watched the video feed and couldn't see any of that. Apparently it was evident on their faces, so she went into further explanation.
"The man's posture is relaxed but you can tell his focus is on Annie, not Stryker, due to the fact that if he was focusing on Stryker his eyeballs would follow Stryker's pacing. But they don't, they are trained straight on Annie. Plus when they entered the room his pupils dilated in recognition or else there would have been some form of surprise or the more common curiosity about Annie. You don't see that. All of this tells me that whoever this blonde mercenary is, he has met my daughter before."
"You can see all of that?" Deeks asked in awe.
"Mom teaches how to identify, differentiate, and draw conclusions from physiological indicators to new recruits at the Farm. She has her masters in Psychology and working towards her doctorate at Georgetown University." Carson clarified.
"Can you tell if Annie knows him as well? Then maybe we can go through her contacts and narrow down the search about his identity which might lead to us finding out about his whereabouts and Annie's." Callen questioned.
"Unfortunately Annie's attention is on Stryker so she barely notices the second man, so I can't draw anything from her." Mrs. Smith admitted dejectedly.
"Hey, you did wonderful Rose, Mr. Beale, Ms. Jones, and Mr. Johnston, get the best picture of you can of the second mercenary and run it through every database you can think of. Maybe we can get an ID on him through that. Besides, even if we could confirm that Annie did know the man, it would have been a needle in the proverbial haystack with all the people she could have possibly met as Anne Smith, let alone if you include her past and current aliases." Hetty comforted the woman as Eric, Nell, and Johnston did as they were told. But Callen knew that it was going to take time for the picture to get through the databases and get a hit; if the second mercenary was even in their databases.
"What do we do now?" Sam asked Hetty.
"We all try to get some sleep. We will go in intervals seeing how I only have a few cots. Mr. Johnston, Mr. Smith, you both should head home to your families who are expecting you, rest assure that I will contact you immediately if anything does pop up." Hetty commanded and mostly everyone scoffed at the fact that she was trying to get them to fall asleep with everything that was happening.
"Hetty is right; we need our rest for when we save Annie. Especially now since we are waiting for either the video feed to resume which won't be until morning or until the technical analysts identify the second mercenary and if that even turns up any new leads." Director Smith backed up their little boss.
"That is our cue to leave Jason, I did promise your wife that I would drop you off at your place and it's already 1 in the morning. I need to pick up Aisha and give her a hug. Eric, Nell, I will sign back in, in about two hours." Johnston sighed in seemingly one breath, which astounded Callen. The man then got up and motioned for Jason to follow him. Annie's son hesitated for a brief moment.
"Go kid, I promise you will be the first person I call if anything does happen. Hell, I'm going to be the first person to catch some ZZZs." Carson nudged the young man and got him to crack a smile since Callen first saw him.
"Well that's because you are like a cat, you can sleep anywhere and in any position. As long as you get your sleep you are one happy kitty." Jason quipped and this got Annie's parents, Carson, Hetty, and Johnston to laugh at this.
"Just go before my claws come out." Carson joked. Johnston patiently waited as Jason hugged each of his family members before the two finally left.
"Who else will be joining Ms. Smith?" Hetty asked and Callen decided that he would.
He knew that it was going to take time for the picture to run through all the databases. During that time, Callen could take a quick nap to satisfy Hetty and pass some of the time before they got a match, if they got a match. And because Callen volunteered to get some rest first, of course Sam followed his partner's lead.
Sam wanted to watch Callen and make sure that he didn't do something irrational and to be there for emotional support. Sam could see that Callen was falling in love with their fashion consultant. He could see it more clearly than everyone else at OSP other than possibly Hetty who could read them all better than themselves. So Sam stuck close to his partner without being obvious, leaving only to call his wife to tell her that he was staying the night at work and he would call her in the morning. But this gave Callen enough time to fall quickly asleep.
Callen had a dreamless sleep that lasted about 20 minutes. When he woke up he could see the sleeping bodies of his partner and the woman-he-can't-stop-thinking-about's sister on cots on either side of Callen. Hetty had set up the cots in the workout room so that they wouldn't be disturbed by the others' working. He didn't get up immediately as he let his thoughts consume him.
Special Agent G Callen's thoughts surrounded one woman: Annie. And he was used to that. Callen stared up at the ceiling and could see Annie's smiling face which made him smile back. In his ears he could hear her melodic laugh and the smell of her cinnamon-y perfume wafted through his nose. But it all warped into the image of her unconscious face and tied up like she was in the video. Callen fought his own brain to recall the image of the smiling Annie and replace the one that was now painted invisibly against the ceiling. He was losing the battle.
"What is it about the ceiling that allows one to see the people they love or their tormentors?" Carson asked aloud, startling Callen from his inner battle. He turned to see Carson also staring up at the ceiling her arms behind her head.
"You were seeing Annie too." She continued on even though he didn't answer.
"Yes." Was Callen reply and returned to staring up at the ceiling like Carson.
"You like her… More than as the coworker/friend relationship that you have right now, am I right?" Carson asked and Callen sighed.
"That obvious to complete strangers, huh?" He admitted aloud for the first time and Carson chuckled aloud.
"The way Annie described you guys to us, you are not complete strangers. That and one foster kid can read another." She stated and Callen knew where she was coming from. When he met her, even if he hadn't known Annie's exact relationship with Carson as described by Annie's letter, Callen would have recognized Carson as a foster child. It was just something one could see after going through the foster system.
"How long for you?" Callen asked aloud.
"The foster system was all I can remember. And, you?" She countered and Callen grunted in response which told her that he was the same.
"How many homes?" Callen asked for his turn.
"22; probably would have had more if it wasn't for Annie. You?"
"37." At that Carson gave a low whisper/whistle if that was possible. Carson was trying to remain quiet for Sam's sake but Callen knew that his partner was no longer asleep and listening intently to their conversation.
"Don't worry Agent Callen; Annie is strong and smart. She will pass whatever test Stryker has set up for her and find a way to help us find her, if we don't do it ourselves." Carson stated firmly. The tone to her voice was so strong that Callen couldn't help but believe Carson Smith. Hope renewed in Callen and he would make sure that he doesn't lose it.
"Hey guys, Eric and Nell got something." Deeks interrupted them and all three shot up before dashing to ops center.
"We were able to identify the second mercenary." Eric said as soon as Callen, Sam, Carson, and Deeks entered the room.
"His name is Lucas Walker. Green Beret for about 8 years before being honorably discharged and then went off the radar for about 6 months. The next time he popped up he was a part of a highly trained crew of mercenaries led by this man." Nell stated as she brought up pictures on the big screen.
First it was the military ID of Walker and then him talking to a group of other men in the middle of the sidewalk at an unknown location. Nell then focused in on one man in particular in the group that Walker was talking too. The man was tan, even more so than Annie, with floppy black hair and stubble.
"Hello, gorgeous, I thought I would never see you again." Carson said aloud.
"You know this man?" Hetty asked and Carson nodded.
"His name is Harrison, Harrison Kane." Carson explained and Callen exchanged wide-eyed stares with the rest of his team.
"Harrison… As in Annie's ex-boyfriend Harrison?" Kensi asked.
"As in the best-break-up-sex, ex-boyfriend Harrison?" Deeks added and received glares from Callen and Director Smith. Deeks started to fidget under their glares while receiving amused looks from Carson, Mrs. Smith, Sam, and Kensi with confused looks from Eric and Nell.
"Thank you, Mr. Deeks. However, Mr. Beale, Ms. Jones, please continue." Hetty saved Deeks by returning Callen's and Director Smith's attention to the two tech analysts.
"Harrison Kane was also military, RAAF, or Royal Australian Air Force, before becoming the leader of the mercenary team that Walker joined. They worked for a number of years, running a variety of high-risk jobs and effectively evading any type of law force." Nell explained. Eric then picked up from there.
"That is until a year ago. His team drops off the radar only for Harrison to turn up in Switzerland. The rest of his team, excluding Lucas, also turned up but in other mercenary teams. It seems as if Harrison is the only one out the team to retire from the game in the good ole non-extradition country, Switzerland." Eric said with flourish and Callen glared at the picture of Harrison. From what Callen has seen from her ex-husband to this guy, Hetty and Kensi were right all those months ago when this man was brought up in conversation. Annie really didn't have a type when it came to dating.
"Your point Mr. Beale and Ms. Jones?" Director Smith asked.
"Well, if they worked for so long together, then Harrison must know how to get a hold of Walker." Eric replied hesitantly and got an affirmative nod from Hetty that set the surfer back at ease.
"Is there any contact information available then?" Callen questioned.
"There is a phone number but it was mostly for to contact him for a job back when he was a mercenary. We don't know if it is still active or if he would answer." Nell replied dejectedly.
"No need." Carson spoke up and everyone turned to look at the brunette.
"What are you thinking Carson?" Mrs. Smith asked.
"Do you guys still have Annie's phone?" The young brunette asked the NCIS agents. All of them minus Hetty seemed extremely confused as to why Carson was asking this and if they even had it.
"Yes, Annie left her purse in my JAG. I will go retrieve it for you." Hetty answered and left the room. They all looked from the now empty spot that Hetty once occupied to Carson, hoping for something to dawn upon them but Carson did not elaborate and had this knowing glint in her eyes accompanied with a small smile that reminded them all of Annie.
So, they remained in confused and curious silence until Hetty returned. When the little ninja did return she handed Annie's purse over to Carson who then began to root around in it until she came across Annie's blackberry. Carson scrolled through the contacts list before coming across Harrison's number and dialed it. Carson left it on speaker phone so that everyone could hear it ring.
"Princess, I think I can see the future mother of my children across the bar so you better make this quick." A heavily Australian accented voice crackled over the phone.
"Princess?" Deeks whispered, directing it to Carson who just chuckled aloud.
"If you call your ex-girlfriend princess, I wonder what you would call the future mother to your children."
"Carson? You crazy Sheila! What the hell are you doing on princess' phone and why are you calling me?" Harrison question crackled and they could all distinctly hear some slow scuzzy bar type of song playing in the background mingled with laughter, glasses clinking, and pool balls being hit.
"Well, it's about Annie. She's in trouble and we know that your 'mate' and old teammate Lucas Walker works for the man who kidnapped Annie. Can you get us Walker's contact information?" Carson asked getting straight to the point.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa WHAT? Princess has been kidnapped and you think Luke is behind it?"
"We don't think Harrison, we know. The man that Walker works for sent us a video of Annie, Walker was in the background. That is how we were able to identify him." Carson replied.
"Ugh, I knew that Luke didn't have many scruples but to help kidnap Princess… What does this man want with her?" Harrison actually sounded concerned and that worried Callen. What if Harrison still had feelings for Annie? Annie did say that the only reason why they broke up was because it was a conflict of interest in their jobs but now that was no longer the case.
"It seems that he kidnapped her to seduce her into being his wife, or something along those lines, and then secret her away to an unknown location. He sent the video to us thinking that after hearing her omission that we would back off. We have a day and a half left before they disappear altogether." Carson admitted and Harrison sighed on the other end.
"Oi, give me the name of Luke's new leader and I will call around and try to get a hold of Luke, see if I can get him on our side." Harrison said aloud.
"You don't have his number?" Carson asked for all of them.
"Sheila, after my team broke up we all went our separate ways. We did not leave each other with current contact information just in case someone wanted to arrest all of us. We left behind mutual contacts so that if we did need to get a hold of each other then we could. Now give me the name." Harrison explained and it made sense.
"The leader's name is Damien Stryker. How long will this take?" Carson questioned.
"Depending on how underground they are, it might take a while. I will make first contact with Luke and talk to him about this. If I can't get him to release her then I will fly out to wherever you guys are and help. Either way I will call you first, alright Carson?" Harrison said. Carson was about to respond but then she stopped. She turned and gave Hetty and her parents a questioning look. All three nodded in ascent.
"That's sounds fine, thank you Harrison. We are in Los Angeles, California."
"Thanks Carson. Hopefully I will talk to you soon." After that Harrison hung up.
"I'm going to call Jason." Carson said and left the room.
"I will update Travis." Eric stated afterwards and began to type furiously. This left Callen to his thoughts and fears about Harrison.
Harrison said he was going to fly out here to save Annie if he couldn't convince Walker to free Annie. Callen was afraid that if Harrison did come and help them save Annie, then some past feelings would come up between them. Callen was not going to let that happen but he needed Harrison's help to save Annie. All Callen could hope for was that Harrison could convince Walker to help them so that Harrison didn't fly out.
"I was able to convince Jason not to come in for another couple of hours." Carson replied after she re-entered ops center.
"Same with Travis." Eric commented and with that they all went back to waiting for something to shed light on this case.